So you’ve spend a shed-load of money, rearranged your work and life schedule, paid well in advance and raced around like crazy to put everything in place, all so you can enjoy your dream holiday without a hassle. Yes, it’s been hard, but you know it’ll be worth it
But what if things don’t turn out the way you expect? What if that pristine beach resort or idyllic mountain retreat wasn’t quite like it was in the brochure or online advertisement? What if all the flight connections were screwed up, the hotel was horrible, the food was terrible, the attractions were all closed and the locals were unfriendly? What if you simply had a lousy time?
When you get back home, do you blithely lie to friends and colleagues and say you had a great time, or do you let it all out and say you’d really wished you hadn’t gone?
Too many of us, I think, fall into the first category. We invest some much time, money and enthusiasm into planning a holiday that it’s hard to admit it, even (or especially) to ourselves, when the reality didn’t meet the expectations.
Well, I’m here to tell you that not only is it OK to say you had a rotten time, it’s more than acceptable to complain about it. Loudly.
You can go one of two routes — straight to the source, or broadcast it via social media.
I often use Twitter — yes, I know that that almost makes me old school these days — to hand out brickbats and bouquets. If I’d had a good time or enjoyed particularly good service, I tweet the hotel / airline / cruise operator / restaurant / agent concerned and say so. I do that because it’s only fair that people who work hard to keep others happy get their reward.
Equally, when something goes wrong, I make it known in very plain words.
And you shouldn’t wait until you get back. You’d be surprised how a complaint on social media can sometimes get an instant reaction. The general manager of a large hotel and the food and beverage manager on a cruise ship have both sought me out, on separate occasions, to sort out issues I’d raised online.
Better to get it fixed while you’re in the middle of the trip than to complain about it afterwards. You may even find that you are entitled to some form of compensation or reparation.
And, at the end of the day, if nothing is done to resolve your problem, you can vent your spleen on social media. At the very least you’ll be warning others. And that’s exactly what savvy tourism operators don’t want. They rely more on “word of mouth” — personal recommendations — than you might imagine. Thus the success of TripAdvisor.
Unless they are totally inept, they really do want you to have a good time, because they want your return custom and they want you to spread the good word. That’s what keeps successful businesses in business.
As a customer you’re more powerful than you may think.
